KERANG secured their third straight minor premiership with a convincing 40-point win at the weekend over an undermanned Mallee Eagles, however the result came at a cost for both sides’ upcoming finals campaigns.
Toby Sheahan (hamstring) and Liam Drummond (leg) left the field in the first half to join a growing injury list for the Eagles, but a hamstring injury to key Kerang onballer Adam Baird could have the biggest ramifications out of Saturday’s 13.5 (83) to 6.7 (43) result.
It was a disappointing end to an otherwise perfect performance from the Blues, with Baird now having to play a waiting game, according to Kerang coach Troy Coates.
“(Baird) was hurt it in the last 15 minutes of the game, unfortunately,” Coates said.
“He’ll go for scans this week, but I’d expect that he’ll miss at least three or four weeks.
“We’ve just got our fingers crossed that if we make the granny, he might be available.
“It wasn’t just a minor strain unfortunately, we’ll just wait and see what the scans say but apart from ‘Skinny’ (Baird), we got through unscathed.”
With just one home-and-away game remaining, Kerang find themselves six points clear on top of the ladder.
“It was nice to get it done, we have an aging list, so we were fighting for top spot and the ability to manage our boys a little bit, even next week against Swan Hill,” Coates said.
“We won’t play Josh Nitschke now, for example, we’ll just be mindful of players and getting them right for the semi-final.
“To go there and win in wet, drizzly conditions and win by seven goals was very pleasing.
“Our boys played a really good brand of footy, which is funny because we always tend to save our best footy for the better teams, I don’t know why that is, but the boys always seem to get themselves up for those big games.
“We’ll have a few guys either retiring or moving on next year, including myself, and our group really wants to finish the season on a high.”
Saturday’s defeat was the Mallee Eagles’ first of the year at their Lalbert base, and the Eagles have lost two of their past four matches.
Along with the in-game exit of Sheahan and Drummond, the Eagles went into the match missing Zac O’Meara, Brady Fordham, Brent Macleod and Nathan Bissett.
Compounding their problems was young forward Jonah Devlin being sideline pre-game after being concussed playing in the colts. Several reserves and colts players backed up to play two games for the day.
“To be honest, we were pretty proud of the group,” Mallee Eagles co-coach Harry Allen said.
“We had a few late changes so had four reserves players put their hand up and play two full games, as well as a couple colts games, so full credit to those boys.
“We finished with two on the bench at half-time. I was pretty proud of how we ran out the game and still made a solid contest considering we were playing against a top side.
“We certainly gave ourselves enough chances during the game, we just couldn’t connect that last kick going inside forward 50 and we were a little inaccurate, which never helps.
“There are a lot of things we can take out of the game if we were to meet again in finals.
“(Kerang) certainly transitioned well and made the most of their opportunities in front of goal, but Brett Kennedy and Sean Hunter were super for them.
“I thought our midfield group was really strong against theirs and it was a good battle all game.
“Our fundamentals were just a bit off across the ground, which against Kerang will always hurt you.”
Sean Hunter was dominant across half-back for the Blues, along Brett Kennedy up forward, who kicked five goals.
Also among the reigning premiers’ better players were Sam Heavyside, Josh Hunter and Josh Hann, while Allen, Troy Anderson and Hamish McGregor were in the best players for the Eagles.
“(The Eagles) were very tall, which I felt played into our hands a little bit given the conditions, because the ball was on the ground a fair bit,” Coates said.
“Our backs were super, our run, carry and spread from the back line opened them up with their height.
“We put a bit of time into (Jayden) Post this time and shutting him down, along with Beau Bennett.
“Josh Hunter did a great job on Hourigan, while Lachie Ross was great in peeling off and helping out as well. We learned a lot from last time we played them.”
Rylee Gitsham was given the task of quelling the impact of Post, with the developing key position prospect producing a strong performance.
SCORES
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final Score |
| Mallee Eagles | 2.0 | 2.4 | 4.7 | 6.7 | 43 |
| Kerang | 3.1 | 5.2 | 9.3 | 13.5 | 83 |
VOTES
3 – Sean Hunter (Kerang)
2 – Brett Kennedy (Kerang)
1 – Harry Allen (Mallee Eagles)
